Hospitals and health systems are officially less than two years away from the go-live date of ICD-10. By Oct. 1, 2014, all providers must have made the transition to ICD-10. 1. Most hospitals are in a readiness assessment phase. In February 2011, the American Hospital Association surveyed its hospital members to see where the sector […]
Federal officials soften some proposed requirements and officially delay the deadline to upgrade to the next electronic health record phase, but doctors wanted more leeway. Starting as early as 2014, physician practices will be required to achieve more difficult objectives to demonstrate meaningful use of electronic health records to earn federal bonuses and prevent future […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released the final 2014 clinical quality measures for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals, and the specifications for electronic reporting. Beginning in 2014, providers will need to report the new CQMs whether they are reporting in Stage 1 or Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use program. Eligible professionals […]
With the deadline for ICD-10 compliance now set for Oct. 1, 2014, it’s good to reflect back on why we as an industry are transitioning to ICD-10 in the first place. The greater specificity levels within clinical documentation will provide an improved understanding of health conditions and impact patient outcomes. ICD-10 will also provide more […]
The deadline for ICD-10 implementation is nearly two years away, and providers and payors need to communicate to help smooth the transition, according to The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Here are two tips for helping the transition. 1. Engage in open dialogue. Once a team or person has been designated to oversee the transition, […]
Word of the new ICD-10 compliance deadline came as welcome news to many in the healthcare realm – just not everyone. There remains a corner of the industry that publicly asked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider other alternatives, most notably ICD-11, before mandating a new deadline. HHS explains in the […]
It’s no surprise many physicians are finding it difficult to qualify for meaningful use incentives. The industry shouldn’t be fooled by numbers, and needs to realize many physicians have a long way to go before they officially qualify. Check out these five keys to conquering difficult meaningful use requirements. 1. Require patients to self-report demographic […]
CMS is seeking public comment on its readiness assessment for the ICD-10 conversion, according to a notice published in the Federal Register, Modern Healthcare reports. Background on ICD-10 U.S. health care organizations are working to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets to accommodate codes for new diseases and procedures. The switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets […]
Studies have illustrated the potential benefits of EHR adoption, such as improvement in the clinical care process and the overall patient experience. EHR implementation, however, can also have a significant impact on operational efficiencies, creating opportunities for healthcare organizations to leverage the same workflow automation capabilities to improve a number of cumbersome administrative processes to […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released two tip sheets this week. They only seem to be in e-mail alerts from CMS so I’m going to post the content here. The first is some basic information on how healthcare providers can prepare to improve clinical documentation: Inventory Systems and Identify Discrepancies: You should […]